Dead naxal walks back to life in AP

HYDERABAD/VIJAYAWADA: It appears to be a scene straight out of a Telugu potboiler. In July 2006, police handed over a decomposed body of a naxalite to his parents in the city, claiming that their son was 'killed' in Prakasam district. The shocked parents without a murmur performed his last rites.

On Monday, the police brought to the family a person arrested from Jaggaiahpet in Krishna along with an accomplice for establishing their identities. The family's joy knew no bounds when they saw their son alive. Uday Kumar alias Ramana's parents, who reside at Yapral, confirmed him as their son and the accomplice as their daughter-in-law Padma. Kumar, who works with the Palavanka dalam, had walked into Jaggaiahpet police station on Saturday to lodge a complaint against a home guard who demanded Rs 4 lakh from him.

The police detained him and on grilling, the naxalite revealed his identity. The police claimed he was one among eight killed in Nallamala forest on July 23, 2006. Maoist state secretary Burra Chinnanna alias Madhav was killed in that encounter. Uday, Rajitha alias Susheela and Vijaya Lakshmi alias Shyamala killed in the encounter hailed from the twin cities.

Surrendered naxalites identified one body as that of Uday. As the body was in a decomposed state, the parents quickly cremated it. A police officer said: "It was a case of mistaken identity. We identify bodies with the help of relatives and surrendered naxalites. In Uday's case, we got it wrong."

The parents now fear that the police may harm the couple. The Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee has demanded that the Maoist couple be produced in court.

Though the police are likely to announce the couple's arrest on Tuesday, APCLC state joint secretary D Suresh Kumar, in a release, said the two were taken into custody on Sunday afternoon.

According to sources, Padma was picked up by the special police party from a remote colony in Jaggaiahpet. None of the locals knew about the Maoist couple's original identities as they had given false names.

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